We’re continuing the great tradition of this C&C thread because we’re convinced that looking at and talking about images is vital for better photography, and also useful for understanding and appreciating our gear.

The idea is simple: you post an image and get critique on it, and in return give other people your opinion of their images. Or vice versa: you give others your honest feedback, and in return deserve the right to post your own picture for C&C.

Generally, you should post only one single image for C&C. As an exception, you can post two pictures resulting from one shutter release but with different treatment (for example a color and a black & white version, or a different crop) for us to choose from and comment on.

TWO RULES:

1.If you post an image, you critique at least one other image.

2.Keep your comments honest but polite; if you don’t care for an image, try to explain why. This is neither a “Good shot!” nor an image-bashing thread.

Any style, any camera. It is a peer-to-peer photography workshop!

Feedback is guaranteed (for up to 48 hours after the thread has started)! Though keep in mind that the thread tends to be busiest during the first 24 hours or so, so later image posts may get little feedback.

HOW TO PLAY:

1.Turn on "Threaded view" and reply to this post with a web-sized image. Change the title so we can sort different images out easily!

2.Get back to this thread in a minute, an hour or a day or so, and…

3.…still in threaded view, look at one or more pictures of your choice, click reply and critique it.

4.Remember to add the EXIF if your image doesn't embed it as this may help

5.Image posters: please consider telling us what your own opinion on your image is. What prompted you to click that shutter button? What did you see? Why do you like the result? You don't have to explain, but it might be interesting.

6.You are very welcome to post agroup replyto the feedback you have gotten. This could include a new version of your image, taking on board the comments received. Please try not to reply individually to every comment so as not to fill up the thread on your own.

IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME, WELCOME! AND BE SURE TO READ THIS:

•The critique you give (point 3 from the above list) is vital. What was your first impression? What catches your eye about an image? Why? What do you like, and what distracts you? What would you change?

•Fiddle with the image in your head - composition, perspective, color balance, exposure. If the poster of the image does not object, you may even consider downloading his image and fiddling with it for real, to illustrate your point.

•More general feedback is also welcome. Do you know something about taking the same sort of image that would make matters easier - share your own as an example in your reply. Encourage - it is a scary business putting your work up for other people to judge!

•Finally what is the verdict? Waste-bin? Snapshot? Could be better? Family Album? Frame on wall? Poster-size frame on wall? Billboard? Reuters? World Press Photo? National Geographic? Museum? (pick your own superlative here)

This is a placeholder for anything related to the C&C threads. And we do mean anything: feel free to start a discussion about the threads, or how you felt when your image was trashed by some mean know-it-all (probably not in this thread, though), or how it feels trying to say something polite about a cr @ ppy image posted for review (tough one).

This is also the place to make arrangements and share ideas for keeping this thread alive and kicking. Or for starting a new "Photo Essay" or "Series" thread, as has been suggested in the past (plenty of “Weekly” this-and-that threads around, so why not?).

For the foreseeable future if this thread is to continue it will need a new host. I do not believe Lou will be returning to host this thread. While starting the thread is easy enough for me to do, I have difficulty with the replies and coming up with images of my own to post. So, there are a number of possibilities here.

Another person can volunteer to host the thread. I will take no offense and welcome such a move.

I can continue to open the thread on a weekly basis, an easy enough task, but not post images unless I feel I have something worthwhile.

??? Open to other suggestions

Please give this some thought and let me know what you think. Really, I have no objections to openning the thread weekly. It takes a few minutes and I am usually available to do this. I will have a problem the first week in April as I expect to be laid up for a few days for a knee replacement but no biggy.

On another issue, I am having a hard time cutting and pasting into these dpr forums. The formatting is lost, including some of the spacing, as well as bold and italic type faces. I am pasting into Word or Notepad with the same bad results. Anybody gotten this to work while retaining formatting, and if so can you please let me know how?? This is in Windows and IE. Maybe a different browser would work better??

For the foreseeable future if this thread is to continue it will need a new host. I do not believe Lou will be returning to host this thread. While starting the thread is easy enough for me to do, I have difficulty with the replies and coming up with images of my own to post. So, there are a number of possibilities here.

Another person can volunteer to host the thread. I will take no offense and welcome such a move.

I can continue to open the thread on a weekly basis, an easy enough task, but not post images unless I feel I have something worthwhile.

??? Open to other suggestions

Please give this some thought and let me know what you think. Really, I have no objections to openning the thread weekly. It takes a few minutes and I am usually available to do this. I will have a problem the first week in April as I expect to be laid up for a few days for a knee replacement but no biggy.

On another issue, I am having a hard time cutting and pasting into these dpr forums. The formatting is lost, including some of the spacing, as well as bold and italic type faces. I am pasting into Word or Notepad with the same bad results. Anybody gotten this to work while retaining formatting, and if so can you please let me know how?? This is in Windows and IE. Maybe a different browser would work better??

Thanks,

Andrew

Andrew, I think you do the forum great service as host whether or not you happen to have a photo to share, or critiques, in any given week. Thank you.

In my observation this is a pretty relaxed venue; there don't seem to be any formal (or informal!) expectations for posting and/or commenting according to a rigid formula or schedule.

I'm sorry I don't have any insights on manipulating the text here; I've experienced similar mystifying lapses in trying to transplant text from outside dpr.

Best wishes for a smooth and successful outcome of your surgery next week. It's a blessing to live in a time when such treatments are available. You'll keep us posted, of course.

For the foreseeable future if this thread is to continue it will need a new host. I do not believe Lou will be returning to host this thread. While starting the thread is easy enough for me to do, I have difficulty with the replies and coming up with images of my own to post. So, there are a number of possibilities here.

Another person can volunteer to host the thread. I will take no offense and welcome such a move.

I can continue to open the thread on a weekly basis, an easy enough task, but not post images unless I feel I have something worthwhile.

??? Open to other suggestions

Please give this some thought and let me know what you think. Really, I have no objections to openning the thread weekly. It takes a few minutes and I am usually available to do this. I will have a problem the first week in April as I expect to be laid up for a few days for a knee replacement but no biggy.

On another issue, I am having a hard time cutting and pasting into these dpr forums. The formatting is lost, including some of the spacing, as well as bold and italic type faces. I am pasting into Word or Notepad with the same bad results. Anybody gotten this to work while retaining formatting, and if so can you please let me know how?? This is in Windows and IE. Maybe a different browser would work better??

Thanks,

Andrew

Andrew, I think you do the forum great service as host whether or not you happen to have a photo to share, or critiques, in any given week. Thank you.

Agree.

In my observation this is a pretty relaxed venue; there don't seem to be any formal (or informal!) expectations for posting and/or commenting according to a rigid formula or schedule.

Well, originally the idea was that "image feedback was guaranteed" in the sense that if nobody else posted any comments, the thread starter would do so at least. Over time, this has become less and less necessary.

But I am more than willing to put my coin in the purse by taking on that engagement : whenever this thread is started by Andrew and whenever I am available to participate, I pledge to post at least my personal comment on any image that does not get any other comments.

I'm sorry I don't have any insights on manipulating the text here; I've experienced similar mystifying lapses in trying to transplant text from outside dpr.

Ditto.

Best wishes for a smooth and successful outcome of your surgery next week. It's a blessing to live in a time when such treatments are available. You'll keep us posted, of course.

Ditto from me. All the best, get well and keep us posted (knee photography not mandatory).

OK, I'll be bending the rules again this week (bending up to the point of breaking, actually), by not showing one image but a small series, that resulted from exploring a scene as it presented itself.

The idea is that it might be interesting to share this thought-process and ask for feedback on which of the resulting images works best and why?

The idea to present this series in this weekly thread, resulted from a previous thread in which I showed (and some people discussed) images in which several statues in a museum were brought together visually with a narrative purpose.

What I show here, is similar and I am curious to hear your thoughts.

First Image is a close up of two statues. They seem to be connected (and maybe they came from a group), but actually they are two separate statues placed together in what can be considered the museum's "scrapyard", where statues currently not shown in official display because of place constraints or need for repair are placed. In another shot, it will be clear that the person who seems to take a beating here, is actually making a courtesy bow:

Second Image places the first of those two in a relationship with statues further away and from another genre. DOF makes the nearby statue be a mere silhouette :

Third image is essentially the same view, but oriented differently and with focus elsewhere:

Fourth image shows the first "group" again in a more complete view:

Fifth image shifts focus to a larger group/statue further on the grounds - this is a classic large bust of some ruler or king, surrounded by two allegorical characters (I think a representation of the city of Antwerp and Hermes, the God of Commerce):

Sixth Image tries to establish a connection between the first and the last group, resulting in an unavoidably somewhat busy and chaotic image :

I haven't been doing a lot of actual shooting for a while. But I have been slowly working through my huge pile of old slides, scanning and processing in Lightroom. This one still loosely fits the intent of this thread, being shot with an OM4 back in 1995.

Very nice and pleasing composition. Now if you could just make the flame look a little less like a bunch of overlapping circles it would be perfect, well really good anyway I have no idea how you would do that, but I'm sure it is possible.